A man carrying a knife and a hunting rifle opened fire on worshipers on Sunday at an Orthodox church in Kizlyar, in the Dagestan region of Russia, killing at least five people and wounding several others, according to a Russian state news agency. The spokesman of the Orthodox Patriarch Kirill condemned the attack, calling it a "monstrous crime" that aims to "provoke conflict between Orthodox Christians and Muslims" in the North Caucasus. A priest at the church, Pavel Kalikin, told media many more people could have been killed if parishioners had not shut the church doors as soon as the first shots were heard. "A bearded man ran towards the church shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and killed four people".

Initial reports suggested all five victims were women, TASS said, citing the local branch of the interior ministry. The attacker was "eliminated " by police fire, the statement added. The militant acted during the celebrations of the Maslenitsa, an Orthodox festival held in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in the week preceding Lent. Following two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya, an Islamist insurgency spread to Dagestan.